Legislators debate school safety, role of weapons

Wednesday

Jan 9, 2013 at 4:52 PM

Armed resource officers, better building and event security, and mental health screening and treatment were advised at a Wednesday joint legislative committee hearing on school safety. Lawmakers vowed action in the 2013 legislative session that begins Feb. 5 in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that left 20 children and six adults dead in Connecticut last month.

By Dana BeyerleMontgomery Bureau Chief

MONTGOMERY | Armed resource officers, better building and event security, and mental health screening and treatment were advised at a Wednesday joint legislative committee hearing on school safety.Lawmakers vowed action in the 2013 legislative session that begins Feb. 5 in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that left 20 children and six adults dead in Connecticut last month.“School safety is of paramount importance to us,” state Rep. Mary Sue McClurkin, R-Indian Springs, said at a joint meeting of House and Senate Education Policy Committees. “We want to ensure this doesn't happen in this state. She vowed that information will “not be put in a box.”Sen. Vivian Figures, D-Mobile, suggested prevention through identification of likely troubled students and mental health treatment.A young man on Dec. 14 opened fire in the Newtown, Conn., school with his mother's semi-automatic, assault-type rifle. He killed her and 26 in the school before killing himself.“I'm afraid there's no way to guarantee that some evil person won't commit a heinous act,” said Sen. Dick Brewbaker, R-Pike Road. He said funding will be necessary.Etowah County District Attorney Jimmie Harp, president of the Alabama District Attorney's Association, advocated mental health identification and treatment, armed law enforcement officers, expanding the capital murder statute to include schools and better control over what citizens should have weapons.“School resource officers are important,” he said. “Unless you have a trained mental health professional you're wasting your money. We need to have early intervention. A man in uniform with a gun is a heck of a deterrent but we need to treat these people. We're not trying to restrict weapons but we're trying to restrict who has them.”Tuscaloosa County Sheriff Ted Sexton advocated a total approach.“What we're asking is give the tools to law enforcement and educators to deal with them,” he said. “Control who can be in school … what can be done on school property. Support mental health courts.”Bice has mandated a review to ensure all 1,500 public schools have updated safety plans. Sen. Phil Williams, R-Rainbow City, said private schools should be included in the discussions.The hearing occurred on the day the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center released a report on school violence in 2011. The report concluded that 2 percent of the 20,290 reported violent offenses occurred in schools and that hands and fists were the predominant weapon.A gun was used in 1 percent of the violence and one homicide occurred in Madison City schools.The pros and cons of arming adults in schools were offered by legislators who favored it and law enforcement and school officials who said that only trained police officers should be armed. They're called school resource officers and are currently present in many of Alabama's 1,500 public schools.Bice said armed, non-law enforcement officers, “is not a good solution.”Reps. Kerry Rich, R-Albertville, and Lynn Greer, R-Rogersville, said if resource officers aren't feasible, local systems should have the option to arm qualified and trained adults.An exchange between Rich and Escambia County Sheriff Grover Smith, a former police chief and president of the Alabama Sheriffs Association, highlighted the debate.“The likelihood of a shooting increases with armed people,” Smith said. “I'm not going to let my granddaughters go to that school.”Rich said he has a 6-year-old granddaughter. “I would rather my granddaughter be in a school where a trustworthy person had a weapon available,” Rich said.“Would they be full time?” asked Smith.“No,” Rich replied.“Then they can't do their job,” Smith said.“I disagree,” Rich said.“I hope someone in schools my grandkids attend, some adult is carrying a pistol,” Greer said. “It would make me feel better.”Marla Vaughn, an elementary school teacher in Valley and president of the Alabama Conference of Educators organization, said teachers don't want weapons.“The best option is an armed, uniformed officer,” she said. “Other safety measures are locking all the doors and keeping them locked, teachers carrying walkie-talkies and cell phones.Henry Mabry, the executive secretary of the Alabama Education Association, the largest teacher member group, said the AEA was neither invited to nor was it notified of the committee meeting.Spencer Collier, director of Homeland Security, proposed specific training for all law enforcement officers.“Only 27 percent are certified in active shooter training,” he said. “Our ultimate goal is 100 percent.”He said public education for an active shooting includes run, hide, and resist. “Escape if you can, hide if you can't and fight, don't be passive, be aggressive.”He said Virtual Alabama that gives law enforcement officials real-time floor plans of every school and diagrams of their safety measures should be expanded.“It's critical for education across the state that we have things out there to help us,” said Dwight Satterfield, safety and alternative programs supervisor for Decatur city schools. “What we are missing right now are funds to enact safety measures we would like in our schools.”

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